Barnes isn’t fond of the Tar Heels…
Tennessee comes to Chapel Hill on Wednesday night. Volunteers coach Rick Barnes has a long history with UNC. He coached Clemson in the 90’s, Texas after that, and is now with Tennessee. He has clashed with former coaches, ACC officials, and made statements that may rub UNC fans the wrong way.
Clemson Days
As the coach of the Clemson Tigers, Barnes found a good bit of success. However, the 90’s ACC was ruled by North Carolina and Duke.
Late in an ACC tournament game between the Tar Heels and Tigers, UNC coach Dean Smith got frustrated with a hard foul on Jerry Stackhouse. He pointed and said something to the Clemson player he believed was overly aggressive. That set Barnes off. He and Smith met face-to-face in a war of words. Since then, the North Carolina fan base has had a problem with Barnes.
In 1998, UNC had Bill Guthridge at the helm. It was Barnes last season at Clemson, and the Tigers traveled to Chapel Hill. They committed 41 fouls on the night, with six players being disqualified and finishing the game with just four men on the court. Barnes was not happy in the post-game, saying, “I’ll be honest, I’ve never truly been involved with any game with so many fouls called. I don’t know what to say.”
Texas Torments Tar Heels
The Longhorns are one of those teams that UNC struggles against. Under Barnes, the teams met five times, with Texas winning four of those. Only two of them were close.
2009: Texas-103 UNC-90
2010: Texas-78 UNC-76
2011: Texas-63 UNC-82
2012: Texas-85 UNC-67
2013: Texas-86 UNC-83
Tennessee Troubles
Since Barnes took over at Tennessee in 2015, his teams have played UNC three times.
2016: Tennessee-71 UNC-73
2017: Tennessee-73 UNC-78
2021: Tennessee-89 UNC-72
North Carolina is 2-1 in those games. Last time he came to Chapel Hill, he was booed, and surely it will happen again Wednesday night. They play a very physical style, and UNC has to be ready.
UNC vs. Tennessee in Chapel Hill, Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m.
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